Moving or Transporting Animals Fitted with eShepherd Neckbands

Animals can be safely moved or transported while wearing their eShepherd Neckbands — there's no need to remove them. However, there are a few important steps to take before, during, and after transport to ensure the animals' comfort and the accuracy of your virtual fencing setup.

Before you load: disable all virtual fences

Before moving animals, disable any active virtual fence (VP) assigned to the Neckbands being transported.
Once you've disabled the virtual fences, confirm that all deactivations have fully completed before starting the shift. Deactivation commands need time to reach every Neckband, so check that each animal's Neckband shows the virtual fence as inactive before loading begins.

Why this matters: GPS behaviour inside trailers and trucks

Enclosed trailers and trucks can interfere with GPS reception, which may cause Neckbands to report spurious (inaccurate) GPS locations during transport.
If a virtual fence were still active, these false GPS positions could place an animal "outside" its virtual fence boundary — triggering audio tones and pulses to animals inside the trailer or truck. Disabling virtual fences before transport prevents this entirely.
Note that even an open-top metal cage trailer can introduce some level of GPS error, so virtual fences should be disabled regardless of the type of transport vehicle used.

Hibernation is not required

You do not need to put Neckbands into hibernation for transport. Doing so would add unnecessary effort at both ends of the journey — hibernating each Neckband before departure and then waking each one again on arrival. Simply disabling the virtual fences is sufficient.

Setting up a virtual fence at the destination

If you need a virtual fence active and ready at the destination before the animals arrive, this must be done with extreme care:

• Ensure all virtual fence boundaries are positioned well away from the road or track used for transport, so Neckbands cannot interact with the boundary while the vehicle is in transit or arriving.
• Unload the animals well away from any active virtual fence boundary, giving them space to settle and re-establish accurate GPS positioning before they encounter a boundary.

Quick checklist

1. Disable all virtual fences on the Neckbands being moved.
2. Confirm every deactivation has completed before loading animals.
3. Do not hibernate Neckbands — it isn't necessary.
4. If a virtual fence is needed at the destination, keep boundaries well clear of the transport route and the unloading area.
5. Unload animals well away from any active virtual fence boundary.

If you have any questions about preparing your herd for transport, please contact the eShepherd support team.

Updated on: 10/07/2026